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We Will Continue

November 26, 2003

Nine days ago my soul mate, my husband, my ministry partner, and the Christian most dedicated to God’s truth I’ve ever had the privilege to meet went home to be with the Lord.

I want to share a few very important things with you.

The Harvest Is Not Complete

Answers In Action continues – and will continue – to reach out to all kinds of people who need answers, to those whom Christ loves.  Bob exemplified that unconditional love.  There is no one God skips over or ignores. Bob understood that and practiced it more than anyone else I have ever known.

We will continue our web site ministry, our weekly postings, our outreaches by personal Internet interaction to thousands of people from dozens of countries.

We will continue our classes – Mars Hill Club discussion group for intellectual seekers who are starving for mental stimulation rooted and grounded in Christ; Faith Seminary extension classes, currently in the book of John; periodic Sunday morning adult classes; our popular “How to Study” seminars, etc.

We will continue to write.  We had two projects nearly completed that will be the last two projects Bob personally crafted. There are literally hundreds of ideas and arguments in various stages of preparation that will be completed over the coming months.

We will continue to interact by phone and in person with those who have needs – including “field trips” to various venues full of people who need the Lord.

Our Answers In Action Board of Directors will help us make the best decisions in the best timing. We need your help to keep this going – the slack left by Bob can only be taken up by many people working together.

Share the Bounty

If you have supported us for long, you know that we live very frugally by choice so that the greatest percentage of our income goes directly to the gospel and only secondarily toward our living expenses.

Answers In Action is not only deprived of its most brilliant thinking and compassionate minister, we are now also without our auto mechanic, household repair expert, and equipment maintenance and repair worker.  Two especially important jobs I depended on him for were (1) his (100% Sicilian) ability to make the best deal possible on anything to save money (He never paid retail – even at Sears!), and (2) his muscle help for the many things my back and neck injuries made simply out of my ability to accomplish.

We will continue to live frugally and keep Answers In Action in our home. There is no justification for paying double rent and utilities, etc. when we can do everything under one roof and I can continue to go to work wearing my bunny slippers and baking cookies in between listing the steps to the transcendental argument for the existence of God.

But our financial needs will be much greater than before and we must depend on you (with God’s gracious mercy) to meet those needs. Physically I cannot add another job on top of what I do, and spiritually I am absolutely convinced that Answers In Action is what God wants me to focus on, not the footprints tracked across the kitchen floor.

Financially we need (1) one-time gifts to cover the costs of this unsettled time; (2) pledges for monthly support so we can make plans and commitments; (3) your efforts to recruit other supporters to expand our ability to reach others; (4) increased monthly giving to assist me in maintaining the same level of excellence in ministry with half of my heart ripped out of my chest; and (5) special gifts to help cover the medical costs of Bob’s death. His life insurance will cover about 90% of his funeral and burial costs. I can’t even imagine at this point the medical bills I will be receiving (we have no health insurance).

Till, Plant, Water, Reap

Answers In Action is entering a new period of ministry. I am filled with anticipation and excitement about what God has in store for the next chapter of this ministry. I can’t see the future very clearly yet, but I see the Lord shining in the midst of it, with outstretched hands beckoning us to run into his embrace, be equipped for his service, and be sent to the harvest.  Will you join us?

Geography may dictate what form your help takes at this time, but if God can take Philip to Gaza, Jonah to Nineveh, and Paul to Rome, who knows what he has in store for you regarding Answers In Action? And with the marvels of electronic “travel” the possibilities are many.

We need a librarian. We need a file clerk. We need researchers. We need writers. We need correspondents. We need photocopiers. We need housecleaners. We need landscapers. We need file cabinet content sorters. We need all kinds of people to help with all kinds of ministry projects and projects that will help me.

Please contact me if you can help in any way at 949.646.9042 or Gretchen.Passantino@answers.org , Answers In Action, P.O. Box 2067, Costa Mesa, CA 92628. Be patient waiting for my response. I read and consider every message as soon as I receive it. I cannot always respond immediately.

Pray for me, Answers In Action, and those God brings our way.

Answers In Action is here for you if you don’t know the Lord; if you are “unlovable;” if you are angry with God; if you don’t trust anyone you can’t hear, touch, or see; if you hate the injustice and suffering you see in the world; if you fear because you think he has a hidden rule he’ll use to disqualify you with at the end; if you worry that you haven’t done, said, or acted enough to meet his standards, etc.

Speaking for Bob, me, our Board of Directors, and our staff, I can say with certainty, confidence, and joy that Jesus knows it all and He loves us with such an all-consuming love that he rejoices even if the step you take toward him is a little, tiny, stumbling “baby step.”

Shortly after I became a Christian and met Bob, I risked a lot by opening up to him and telling him of my worry that in the end, I wouldn’t measure up. What he shared with me has remained in my heart for more than 30 years. “You’re right, Gretchen. You don’t measure up. You can’t score enough points if you live to be 1,000 and then you’ll just mess it up all over again.  But that’s ok.  God is in the business of taking our brokenness and our failure, mixing it with his love, and producing somebody he loves so much he’s created eternity for us to enjoy with him.”

If Bob meant something to you; if you benefited from his yielded-ness to God; if you are a Christian who is afraid to share the gospel or defend the faith, now is the time to surrender yourself to God and let him work through you.  If you are not a Christian, God is speaking to you through Bob’s life and death. Every single one of us will die. There is no escape. Bob – and I, and so many other Christians – have absolutely no doubt about the reality of Jesus Christ, his resurrection from the dead, his love for us, and his power to transform any life that yields to him. Give up your doubt, fear, and anger for Bob.  He was right.

Death is horrible. It was not planned by God. He is not its author.  God allowed for us to turn away from him freely because he allowed for us to turn toward him freely. In the midst of my pain, sorrow, and loss, I see the fingerprints of God’s graciousness, love, goodness, comfort, and strength.  There are many reasons God chose to use fallible humans to do his will rather than doing it far more efficiently, effortlessly, and perfectly himself.  I’ve learned one of those reasons over this last week: Instead of one set of heavenly arms around me in my grief, I have experienced many arms holding me gently and fiercely.  I am blessed beyond measure.

Blessings in Christ,

Gretchen Passantino

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The day before Bob died a young student from our church school recited a poem that was very meaningful to Bob. That afternoon we had a wonderful Answers In Action board of Directors meeting. Bob shared the poem, and then reminded us of the Christian allegory of "The Spider and the Fly" in connection with the poem. Truth and escaping deception were two of Bob's most important principles. With that in mind, we bring you the two poems: The Spider and the Fly is posted here:

The Spider and the Fly, Now learn from the Parable...

The poem about truth is reproduced below.

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Telling the Truth

Anonymous

You may think that no one sees and you may think that no one knows.

But the lie that seems so little somehow grows and grows

For no matter how you try it, you can never, ever hide

All the problems that will come from just one little, tiny lie.

One tiny fib or stretch of the truth grows to become a problem that’s HUGE

You can never, never, never hide

All the problems that will come from just one little tiny lie

So be careful what you say, and be careful what you do,

Making honesty your policy will help you through

Then, no matter how you try it, you can never, ever hide

All the good things that will follow if you’re doing what’s right

One tiny word that’s honest and true

Grows to become a good thing that’s HUGE

You can never, never, never hide

All the good things that will follow if you’re doing what’s right

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